Creation of the Logo

So this is a step-by-step guide of how I created the logo for my artist and why I made certain decisions with font style, colour, positioning, etc.

I first started off with the artist's name in order to get an idea with what went best with what. I also wanted to test out all the fonts to help me decide what looked good for the song's style and how I wanted it to be presented to the target audience. This is what I came up with:

It is the font Niagara Engraved and I felt that it truly suited the genre and song's style well as it has this old-fashioned 80's tone to it that is both simple but rather elegant. It isn't positioned in a very unique manner because I don't want the logo to be all over the place so by placing the text straight and facing the audience directly, it'll appeal more especially since the font is not typically of this era musically. Having only done this text, I've kept the colour black as I wasn't sure how the rest of the logo would turn out.

I then moved onto getting the name of the song linked in with the artist. This I found a little tricky as I wanted to be really artistic with how I presented the name but I eventually just opted for something quick and easy but catches the eye of the audience because it contrasts so efficiently with the font and colour of the artist. This is what I came up with:

It is the font Rage Italic and it is such a great font that went side-by-side the previous font immaculately. It provides this very personal touch to the song, almost as if done by the artist herself, that it will automatically invoke the audience's attention and perhaps encourages them to watch the music video. Although I went for the colour blue, it is fairly dark (keeping true to my colour palette) because it matches with the on screen artist's costume style and will encourage a continuous flow for the rest of my work i.e. the magazine and CD covers.

Afterwards, I just added another small text using the Copperplate Gothic Bold font in the colour red stating that the video was coming soon and its date as that is necessary for an announcement of a single. Here is the update below:

Although I feel as though it isn't finished, there isn't much more I can do without making it looked crowded so I'll add to it as I go along with the process.

Colour Palette

Creating this palette ensures a continuity of the artist's style and will become recognisable themes of everything the artist does for her audience.

Dark Sapphire Blue

Black

Ruby Red

I have decided upon keeping the colours to a minimum as to make the artist's appearance simplistic but bold. Although I am using red within the style, I am keeping it to a minimum as I believe the colour to represent sexual connotations and I do not want that for the artist and her work, especially for this song as it doesn't at any given point portray provocative behaviour or feelings towards to the audience. Black and blue are very simple colours and, although dark, portray sense of power and stance in a person and I felt that important for the artist's portrayal, being she is a woman of emotions and her vocals are quite powerful.

Draft for Music Video

A storyboard will follow this at a later stage but here is a draft for how I envision a basic beginning, middle and ending (on the basis of the lyrics) of the music video to play out. For the music video, I felt that producing a transitional piece would compliment and amplify the song brilliantly, the tempo building and building as the song goes on to emphasis the strength and passion in the artist.

Beginning: "You called me out ... with love."

Medium long shot that slowly zooms out, artist stood directly in the middle of shot staring into the lens; medium close up to big close up in a swift cut and at different angles, main actor sat on bed just staring into space; return to same shot of artist whom then begins to sing; similar shots continue (undecided yet) until the chorus; panning shots of artist begin here and cuts begin to speed up. --- I chose these certain shots because I felt that such a powerful song needs to have raw shots with close ups and medium close ups of the people involved so that all the focus is on their emotions and the song itself. Additionally, it links back to my research here where I mentioned providing an alternative to controversy and it fits in very nicely with the chosen song.

Middle: "Your tongue won't tie ... with love."
Return to the artist as tone slows down once more, a medium shot used to get a larger amount of her body and, therefore, her body language as she begins to put more passion into the song; there are many cuts between the performance, the main narrative and the flashback narrative in an attempt to provoke an emotional response from the artist to the audience - most of the artist shots will be medium long shots and close ups with panning and zoom shots whilst the narrative shots will be close ups, medium shots and perhaps a couple of long shots to show her surroundings --- I chose these certain shots because the build up of the song provides a build up of the visuals and, by involving intimate shots of the actors and artist, it correctly portrays the emotions within the lyrics. Again, looking back at my research; it specifically says that the audience wants a link between the song's lyrics and the visuals of the video so this will achieve a good start in terms of interest in the video itself.

Addition to Middle: "When I'm down ... always there."
Fast cuts are very significant within this part of the song as I envision quick jumps between all three narratives to match alongside the ever-increasing tone of the song; long shots, medium shots, medium 2 shots, close ups and extreme close ups involved within these cuts to maximize the realism of the scenes --- I chose these certain shots because I wanted this video to be transitional and, by having these jump cuts between the narratives match the melody, it would prove to be certainly something more powerful than the previous verses. Additionally, it would allow all three narratives to come together and morph into this one emotion: happiness.

End: "When I'm down ... with love."
This is where the melody completely drops and the the shots become longer as I want the focus to be on the artist's vocals specifically here (they sound particularly phenomenal here so I want them to be noticed); I want the video to end with a medium shot of the artist smiling at the lens and a medium (long?) shot of the main actor leaving her home smiling --- I chose these certain shots because the melody appears more lighter than the beginning and the contrast between the two is quite settling for the audience, I believe, as a happy ending for both the actor and the artist.

Overall, the music video will change according to the tone and feel of the song so that the audience will feel the exact wave of emotions as the artist does when singing, which is particularly important for a transitional video. In terms of editing, it will be a lot to do due to the constant change in tone but the end result will amplify the song in such a way that the audience will, hopefully, find the genre more intriguing and be a wonderful comeback for the those of an older generation.

I found that Uses and Gratifications complimented my video well and I wanted to apply Katz and Blumler's theory to the vision of my music video's final production. Keeping to terms with the genre characteristics, personal identity is significant to portraying a Soul singer's emotions and keeping a clean cut front for their audience. This use of Personal Identity links in with the idea of reinforcing the artist's values and produces an insight into the artist's private life, something her audience would be interested in and perhaps appreciate as they may be able to connect with her emotionally through the song.

Annotation of the Lyrics

I believe that the song is something meaningful and should have a visual representation of the lyrics to get the best out of the song; seeing as it means something emotionally for the original artist herself. Also, the lyrics prove that emotion is everything for this song and help give the amazingly successful sound it has.

You called me out and taught me tough with love,

With love,

You fought my flaws, my teeth, my claws with love,

With love,

Cause every time I'm slipping away from myself,

You're the one that moves me like nobody else,

The first verse begins with a deep emotional connection straightaway, the artist singing about someone bringing her out of the shadows and helping her love again. This image that someone 'taught me tough with love' is a juxtaposition as the idea of love being something harsh is odd so already the song is proving itself to be a direct message from the artist on exactly how she feels. She then emphasises these opposites by explaining that this person continued to fight her imperfections i.e. 'flaws', 'teeth' and 'claws' representing those blemishes in her personality 'with love', this clear image that she has been healed by this person's love. She continues on to the bridge that she confesses that when she is 'slipping away' from herself, this person 'moves me like nobody else'; making it clear that this love has already saved her before and has continuously done so up until now.

Cause when I'm down and I'm done,

And I'm coming unplugged,

When I'm ready to fall,

You're the one always holding me up,

With love, oh,

The chorus is obviously the main piece of the song where the artist belts out the main and most memorable lyrics and, additionally, where she portrays how strongly she feels throughout this song. This is where I need to have focus upon the visuals in the video itself as the artist's expression through the lyrics is at its peak so a good visual representation within the video during this point would make it successful.

Your tongue won't tie,

You always find the truth, yeah you do,

But still you smile despite the lines I drew for you,

Cause every time I'm slipping away from myself,

You're the one that moves me like nobody else, oh no,

Looking at the beginning of the second verse, it's clear that the song is full of visuals that the artist uses to portray her emotions throughout the song and that this is important to illustrate through the music video, the lines 'your tongue won't tie' and 'despite the lines I drew for you' emphasis this. I've found that, as an artist, having an emotional connection with the lyrics is important to Grimmie which, in turn, should be reflected through the narrative and even more so through the performance shots as it would be great to portray her personality through the video.

~~Chorus~~

When I'm down,

When I'm coming on down no,

You're always there with love,

When I'm down yeah,

When I'm out, when I fall,

You're always always always always always there,

This is a big build up of the melody getting louder and stronger whilst the artist sings parts of the lyrics in any random order as a sort of free-style verse, allowing the artist to really impress with her vocals and push the emotion through to the listener. The repetition of 'always' right at the end shows the artist really pushing her vocals to showing her appreciation of these people whom have helped her get to where she is. It's clear that this is a moment in the video where I should consider a build-up of emotion for the main actor that truly reflect her appreciation for her inspirations behind the song.

When I'm down and I'm done,

And I'm coming unplugged,

When I'm ready to fall,

You're the one always holding me up, (x2)

With love.

The last repetition of the chorus is significant because this is where you hear the artist's strong and unique vocals much more clearly. When she sings the first 4 lines, it was sung just after a big build up of the song and this sudden drop in music brings back the gentle tone a typical Soul song contains. Additionally, and most importantly, the sudden drop of music bring Grimmie's voice into the spotlight and has extreme focus on her singing and the emotion she puts into her voice as she sings. This is a significant point in the song, I believe, as it provides a good tempo for a positive twist within the song and potentially the music video.